It's not just the Italian economy that looks a little sickly just now. The Wall Street Journal doesn't much like the look of the country'sWorld Cupprospects either. The good news is that you can profit from the team's woes.
"Of all the previous World Cup winners in South Africa, Italy looks the most vulnerable," says the Journal. "Recent exhibition games have produced draws with Cameroon and Switzerland as well as a defeat to Mexico," while the team "didn't even advance from the group stages at last year's Confederations Cup."
Italy is also fielding one of the oldest squads in the competition - for example, the captain, Fabio Cannavaro, is 36 - which doesn't bode well for its prospects.
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So although its opponents in Group F - New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia - aren't too challenging, there are better bets out there, reckons the newspaper. "Spread betting firm Sporting Index has set Italy's total goals spread at 8.2-8.8. It makes sense to sell at that price. In its five friendly fixtures after qualifying for South Africa, the Italians netted only three times."
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